Say bye to GPS, locate everything through a chip - says S5 Wireless

Think of the situations where you would want to find out a specific location. When you’ve lost your pet, someone has stolen your car, or worse, someone has kidnapped you and the police needs to find your location. Now, there is a simple solution in the form of a chip, that too a very small one.

Utah based S5 Wireless has come up with a brand new technology which can potentially replace the need for GPS (Global Positioning Systems) devices. They have come up with a tiny little electronic chip which can be placed anywhere you want and can be used to track the location perfectly. Once the chip is placed somewhere, you can track the location of the chip using cell phone towers and can pinpoint the actual location of the chip within two seconds.

The most important fact about this chip is its manufacturing cost. It is way cheaper than you imagine – it takes only about $1 to manufacture a chip of this kind. This ideal combination of low-cost and technology can potentially replace GPS devices which are way too costly and can track the location only if the direct line of the satellites is not obstructed. The only requirement for the chip though is that there needs to be at least three cellphone towers in the area where the chip is located in order to track its location perfectly.

Before you privacy advocates jump on me for promoting such an “intrusive” technology, let me make it clear. The chips will come with an on/off switch which you can use to your convenience. You can keep it switched off if you don’t want to be tracked.

Now, here’s the thing which caught my attention. Though the technology was developed to address the issues of emergencies, it can also be used very effectively for – you guessed it right; mobile advertising. The CEO of S5 Wireless, Mr. David Carter said this technology could very well turn out into a path-breaking one and he also added that if such technologies were to be used for mobile advertising, it would be far more effective than what it is right now and the advertisers will be able to reach out to the customers more effectively. He also said that there will come a day when people can actually enjoy cell service free of cost, thanks to location based mobile advertising.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

0 comments.